Goodlatte said he also asked Comey about the status of the request from the House Republicans on the referral "of potential impeachment - I'm sorry - potential perjury charges to be brought with regard to Ms. Clinton and he deferred to the Justice Department itself".

Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007, used a New York Times editorial to accuse James Comey of violating the Hatch Act, which "bars the use of an official position to influence an election". "Through your partisan action, you may have broken the law", Reid wrote the director.

Reid is not alone in claiming that Comey violated the Hatch Act.

Whereas the ABC news/ Washington post poll put Hillary ahead with 46%, a New York Times Upshot/Sienna poll put Trump in the lead 46% to 42% in the state of Florida.

Mr. Trump is counting on Friday's news about the review of e-mails by federal agents to resurrect his presidential prospects. "But I'll neither defend nor criticize what Director Comey has chose to communicate to the public about this investigation", Earnest said.

US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during "Go Out to Vote" concert at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Miami, Florida, on October 29, 2016. One Democratic senator even demanded the director's resignation. Unsurprisingly, the Clinton and Trump camps offered divergent statements over the issue.

Trump, with new life on the campaign trail in the aftermath of Comey's announcement, said on his Twitter account, "Hillary and the Dems loved and praised FBI Director Comey just a few days ago".

Trump, too, sees the FBI's actions as an opportunity to gain much-needed traction and revive questions about Clinton's trustworthiness. Trump said the latest e-mail flap underscored that Clinton was unfit for president because of a "criminal scheme".

This morning I sent a letter to Congress in connection with the Secretary Clinton email investigation. They aren't created to help any particular individual or to serve any political interest.

"In the last week, I think the Clinton campaign was anxious it was going to become too easy and that people would feel that", Elleithee said. Already, we have learned that the importance of the discovery itself may have been overblown. In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it.

Late Saturday, four senior Democratic senators urged the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide more detailed information by Monday about what investigative steps are being taken, the number of emails involved and what is being done to determine how numerous emails are duplicative of those already reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. About a third of likely voters in the poll said they were less likely to back Clinton given Comey's disclosure. In order to win the presidency, he must carry not only the traditionally Republican states where he leads, but also three major swing states - Ohio, Florida and North Carolina - plus two of three states now leaning toward Ms. Clinton: Nevada, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

But the sheer volume of mail agents must review - as well as determining which are duplicates of already-investigated emails, and whether classified information was exposed - will ensure that the newest stage of the probe will not conclude until weeks after voters go to the polls on November 8.

Abedin separated from Weiner in August when it was reported he sent sexual text messages to a 15-year-old girl. The Wall Street Journal said there are as many as 650,000 e-mails in all, and perhaps thousands of those have crossed Clinton's server.

In July, Comey issued a harsh assessment of Clinton's use of a private e-mail server during her tenure as secretary of state.

The State Department has said Ms. Abedin's work for Teneo was unrelated to her work for the government, and that her outside employment while at State was arranged so the government wouldn't be paying her for work she did charting Mrs. Clinton's post-State career.

Separately, former Attorney General Eric Holder and dozens of other former federal prosecutors signed a letter critical of Comey's recent actions in the Clinton email case.

"Had he sat on the info, one can argue that he would also be interfering with the election by not disclosing to the public that yet again, for the second time in a year, Clinton is under FBI investigation for something of her own doing", she said.